Abel to Yzerman

Saturday night? That was the first Lang fight. The Stallion showed a glimpse of push-back the first twenty seconds and then he was overwhelmed by the sheer, animal strength of the hungry challenger. Don't forget. Clubber Lang lived alone, trained alone, ate alone, washed alone, raised pigeons alone and said horrible things to Adrian at an event that was supposed to be Rocky's Big Day.

And then he laid waste to Balboa. Demoralized him.

Unlike Rocky III, perhaps the greatest true story in modern boxing history, I have little hope of a miracle.

Holy hell. It wasn't just a "fail to compete," or a lot of lost "puck battles". There was no competition and there was no battle. That Blues team is really good. And our Wings team is really, really mediocre. Slow. We looked plodding compared to Clubber Lang.

I offer you no hope for 12. Not now. Not after that. Mickey's dead. Adrian's lost faith. All is lost.

dammit Chief why does this always happen, just posted but more appropriate on this thread:————————-

Question for The 19, Should I start drinking now, and if so, should I go straight to the hard stuff and not fill up on beer? I was thinking something distilled grain that might make me unconscious by 7:30.

Posted by RWBill from the open bar on The Hasek. on 01/21/13 at 05:40 PM ET

Posted by
RWBill
from lead guitarist for The Pompous Dicks. on 01/21/13 at 06:42 PM ET

So, Bertuzzi is NOT lost for 1/3 of the season?

Those guys - Cleary, Beruzzi, Sameulsson, had better show something, and I mean be in a playoff position above .500, or they should be moved along the last month of the season so that the young forwards get a chance to show they can play in the NHL with impact or not. If we are way out of the playoffs then that should happen sooner.

I’ve always liked Cleary’s grit, and we all need to remember he played all of last season with a knee so painful he had difficulty walking. Why that was not operated on before last season is unknown. Give Cleary time, but we don’t have years now, not with this roster. If he’s healthy give him a chance to get to game speed and see if he can be a pest, finish checks, and score.

But the leash should be short on 35+ year olds, given the make up of this roster.

And find some way for Datsyuk and Zetterberg to play 28 minutes a night.

Posted by
RWBill
from lead guitarist for The Pompous Dicks. on 01/21/13 at 06:49 PM ET

Answer, it could be worse, because a similar showing against the Blue Jackets would reveal just how badly the team has disintegrated.

Not being able to connect passes against St Louis is familiar to all teams. Not dominating the crap out of Columbus would be entirely different level of barf.

Posted by
RWBill
from lead guitarist for The Pompous Dicks. on 01/21/13 at 07:13 PM ET

Evenin’ bitches. Can tonite be just as bad as the last outing?

Lets Go Red Wings!!!!!

Posted by Kate from Pa.-made in Detroit on 01/21/13 at 05:50 PM ET

Geesus, Kate, thanks.

I was impressed with my ability to go into total denial since Saturday, to the point I started telling friends and family the St. Louis game didn’t really happen, it was all one, big collective illusion perpetrated by some strange laser out of Area 51.

Written last season. Should we have expected any different kind of showing, remembering how the Wings looked with Lidstrom gone last season? This could have been written Sunday morning.

Since the Red Wings captain sustained his bone bruise, nine games ago, the Red Wings have gone 3-5-1, the worst record of any team currently in the playoff picture.
As a result, the team has exhibited a flat, sometimes panicky, often erratic style of play for the better part of those nine Lidstrom-less games.

It’s not simply the loss of their captain and top defender that’s caused this, it is the loss of the team’s very identity.

At this point, the Detroit Red Wings don’t know how to be the Detroit Red Wings without Lidstrom.

They all knew that, someday, they’d have to figure out how to do this, but they were hoping that day wouldn’t be for a good, long while; they certainly didn’t expect that day to come as soon as it has.

Posted by
RWBill
from lead guitarist for The Pompous Dicks. on 01/21/13 at 07:38 PM ET

It’s two games in, so normally it would be irrational to make a sweeping judgment;
Posted by Red Winger from Sault Ste Marie on 01/21/13 at 06:20 PM ET

Me neither, normally. Let us just consider that the Wings were just plain PHYSICALLY UNABLE to get in position to get a shot off against St Louis…. something like 3 scoring chances after 2 periods. Combine that with disjointed defense, well…..

Posted by
RWBill
from lead guitarist for The Pompous Dicks. on 01/21/13 at 07:41 PM ET

Calm down man, I say to myself, a win tonight, any win, any how, and we’re in the thick of the playoff race!

Posted by
RWBill
from lead guitarist for The Pompous Dicks. on 01/21/13 at 07:42 PM ET

More than anyhting I just wantto see SOME kind of indication that they got the message that if they don’t pull their heads out, this is going to be a VERY short season.

Posted by
42jeff
from The greater Howard City, MI metroplex on 01/21/13 at 07:50 PM ET

Posted by calquake on 01/21/13 at 06:45 PM ET

THESPian, Cal, THESPian.

Bottle of Sangria on tap for me tonight. Let’s see if we can blame Big E for all the things that go wrong tonight.

Posted by
RedMenace
from the Church of Jesus Lashoff on 01/21/13 at 07:52 PM ET

More than anyhting I just wantto see SOME kind of indication that they got the message that if they don’t pull their heads out, this is going to be a VERY short season.

I still don’t know why we must waste roster spots on aging people.. and not use out farm. I say call em all up. Okay.. maybe not all. But Andersson, Sauce, Nyquil, Jurco, SuperDrunk, And Lashoff in for Q-man. God.. he sucks.

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Welcome to Abel to Yzerman, a Red Wing blog since 1977. No other site on the internet has better-researched, fact-laden and better prepared discussions than A2Y. Re-phrase: we do little research, find facts and stats highly overrated and claim little to no preparation. There are 19 readers of A2Y. No more, no less. All of them, except maybe one, are juvenile in nature. Reminding them of that in the comment section will only encourage them to prove that. Your suggestions and critiques are welcome: wphoulihan@gmail.com